


The Story Behind Grandma Esther's Ugly Sweater

by theartofdreaming



Series: Grandma Esther's ugly sweater [3]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Takes place a few years in the future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 16:53:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9132973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theartofdreaming/pseuds/theartofdreaming
Summary: After another move, Iris is surprised to find Grandma Esther's ugly sweater among Barry's belongings yet again. Barry explains why he still holds on to this hideous piece of clothing.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Yay, another story involving Grandma Esther's ugly sweater! This time: Grandma Esther's Ugly Sweater - The Origin ;)

“There, all done,” Barry announced proudly, the final shelf assembled and filled with his and Iris's books (even arranged in the way she always stubbornly insisted on, Iris noticed with a small smile). For the past half hour Iris had spent her time watching her husband putting together their living room furniture and unpacking the last of their belongings. Iris lifted up her legs long enough for Barry to plop down next to her, then brought them down again, spreading them across his lap.

The speedster let out an exhausted groan, resting his head on the backrest of the sofa, eyes closed. Iris watched him with a fond smile. Moving into a new place was always connected with a lot of work, but being married to a speedster certainly made the whole ordeal much easier – after only one day, they were already completely settled in. Which also was due to Wally, Cisco and her dad lending a hand earlier in the day (in the time it had taken Iris to unpack the boxes and suitcases of everything belonging into the bedroom, the kitchen, bathroom and most of the living room had been fully furnished). While being busy filling up the dressers and commode in the bedroom, Iris had come across something she had thought long gone.

She had kept waiting until she was finally alone with her husband again to bring up what she had found: “Hey, Bear?”

Completely unaware of what was awaiting him, Barry turned his head towards Iris, opening his eyes just wide enough for him to squint at her: “Mhm?”

“When I was unpacking our stuff in the bedroom, I stumbled upon something very interesting...” Iris paused for dramatic effect, causing Barry to look confused at first – before his eyes widened with alarm.

“How the heck did you sneak **this** into one of our suitcases?” Iris asked disbelievingly, pulling the offending item from behind the pillows she had snuggled into – it was Grandma Esther's ugly sweater.

“After all the moving you've done since Grandma Esther has given you this atrocity – college, your first, absolutely crappy apartment, back home with my dad, your other apartment that turned into our first one and now this,” Iris gestured to their newly-furnished living room, sweater still in hand, “I kinda expected you to have 'accidentally misplaced' this by now.”

“Aww, come on,” Barry said defensively, taking the offending piece of clothing from his wife's hands, “it's got sentimental value.”

Iris couldn't help but snort, “Sentimental value? Why, does it remind you of all the times I mercilessly teased you?” She gave Barry an impish smile, “because if it's about that, our tattered board games of _Clue_ and _Scrabble_ should serve the same purpose.”  
Barry rolled his eyes in fake annoyance. “Har. Har. Har. No, it's not about the teasing – we both know that you can tease me just fine even without a specific occasion,” he replied dryly, causing Iris to stick out her tongue at him. “It's rather about what it meant to me when I got it,” Barry continued more seriously, running a long, slim finger across the psychedelic pattern of the sweater.

The earnestness in her husband's voice had Iris sit up more properly, head cocked to the side, intrigued: “What do you mean, Bear?”  
“Well, Grandma Esther gave this to me that first Christmas I spent with you and Joe; the first Christmas after my mom's death,” Barry explained with a quiet voice, sending Iris a quick, fleeting smile to let her know he was okay with telling this story. Still, Iris couldn't help herself but put a comforting hand on his forearm, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Acknowledging Iris's small gesture with a warm, meaningful glance of his own, Barry continued, his voice steadier than before: “And it was my first family holiday without my parents there with me – aside from that truly disastrous Thanksgiving from that same year where I had really shone with my terrible behavior-”

Shaking her head exasperatedly, Iris couldn't help but interrupt, incredulous how Barry could still beat himself up over a stupid Thanksgiving from _**eighteen years**_ ago: “Oh come on Bear, you had just come back from visiting your dad in prison – of course you were upset and not in the mood for a 'family' dinner without your family...”

But Barry wouldn't let her make any excuses for his behavior back then: “Still, barricading myself in my room – the room I had because Joe had taken me in, given me a place to stay at – was not exactly the best way to show my gratitude on that particular day.”

Iris sighed, affectionately running down a hand over her husband's arm: “Oh Bear... you know that neither Dad nor I resented you for that-”

“Of course I know. Heck, I think I even knew it then even if I didn't want to admit it to myself,” Barry confessed, “I had always been aware of the kindness you and Joe had shown me by taking me in and caring for me,“ Barry assured. “Although I didn't always act like it,” he added dryly, thinking back to all the yelling and running away both Iris and Joe had had to endure in the very first beginning. “But at times, I just couldn't help but feel that I was intruding into your little family unit-”

“Bear-”

“I know, Iris,” Barry cut her off, giving her a reassuring smile, “I know now. I just had to figure it out. And this sweater really had helped with that.” He gave Iris a wide grin, enjoying the puzzled expression on her face.

“Let me get this straight: this ugly sweater helped making you feel like less of an intruder?!”

“Sure did,” Barry confirmed with a smirk on his face, before elaborating more seriously:

“It was Christmas and Grandma Esther visited again and she brought gifts for all of us: she got Joe this really ugly scarf she'd knitted for him and she got you two pairs of warm, but incredibly hideous, self-made socks-”

“Oh yeah, I actually had asked her to knit me socks – at least you can wear them in public as long as you're wearing boots, **plus** you still have the advantage of warm feet,” Iris reminisced, deeply surprised that Barry was still able to remember these Christmas presents from almost twenty years ago.

“Yeah and then I got this very ugly self-knit sweater. In my favorite color, too – because Grandma Esther had actually bothered to ask Joe about it... And that moment really made me realize that, yes, I couldn't spend Christmas with my parents that year – but I still got to celebrate with my family.

So yeah... Grandma Esther's sweater just kinda made it official, y'know?”

Barry shrugged his shoulders in a casual manner, but Iris could tell from the look in his eyes how meaningful this gift actually had been for him.

“Oh God... you're the sweetest idiot I know,” she sighed, teary-eyed.

“Great, now I made you cry,” Barry observed teasingly while sneaking an arm around his wife's waist and pulling her closer to him, letting his hand rest comfortably on her hip.

“I'm not crying,” Iris disagreed, swatting his chest, “my eyes are just watery from the dust you swirled up earlier – that, or I'm allergic to your sentimentality.”

Barry couldn't help but chuckle: “I'm pretty sure you're immune to my sentimentality by now...”  
“If I recall correctly, you can still develop an allergy after multiple exposures – what, I really **do** listen to your nerd-talk,” Iris said nonchalantly, wrapping her arms around her husband's neck.

“Well, I certainly hope it's not an allergy – you're stuck with me now for the unforeseeable future.”

A flirtatious expression appeared on Iris's face.

“Like I said, it could just be all the dust in this room – maybe we should relocate.”

Grinning, Barry got up, carrying Iris bridal style: “Maybe we should... I think any whirled-up dust in the bedroom should have settled by now.”

**Fin.**

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I just finished this story today, so maybe there are a few mistakes I overlooked - sorry for that (feel free to point out any errors you notice, so I can fix them).  
> Oh, and a Happy New Year!


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